Westfield Farm Chalk Bank

Also within

Berkshire County North Wessex Downs Scenic Area

Condition (Natural England)

Geology & landscape

Rock Type: Chalk

Description

Description Westfield Farm is a chalk grassland bank on the north facing scarp of the Berkshire Downs. There has been a drastic decline in chalk grassland since the 1940s due to changing agricultural practices and nowhere has this been more apparent than in West Berkshire. The site supports rich communities of native plants including several species which have become scarce in Berkshire and the southern counties. The site is maintained by summer grazing with cattle. It overlies the upper chalk with a range of soil depths, reflected by the diverse flora. Most of the site is dominated by upright brome Bromus erectus, but locally tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum forms an unbroken sward. Small areas of improved grassland with perennial rye grass Lolium perenne and crested dog's tail Cynosurus cristatus are included in the site. Areas of shorter turf support quite diverse communities with small scabious Scabiosa columbaria, fairy flax Linum catharticum, dwarf thistle Cirsium acaule, wild thyme Thymus praecox, glaucous sedge Carex flacca and autumn gentian Gentianella amarella, whilst the longer vegetation includes field scabious Knautia arvensis, cowslip Primula veris, kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria, lady's bed straw Galium verum, quaking grass Briza media, common rest-harrow Ononis repens, salad burnet Poterium sanguisorba and hoary plantain Plantago media. Of particular interest is the locally distributed clustered bellflower Campanula glomerata and crested hair grass Koeleria macrantha. Zigzag clover Trifolium medium, another uncommon species unusual on chalk, is also present on the deeper soils. The bank supports five orchid species. Common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuschii is present together with twayblade and pyramidal orchid Neottia ovata and Anacamptis pyramidalis which have a restricted distribution in Berkshire, whilst frog orchid and greater butterfly orchid Dactylorhiza viridis and Platanthera chlorantha are scarce in southern England. Few invertebrates have been recorded, but the variety of soil type and diverse vegetation structure provided by the Bromus erectus dominated sward is likely to support an interesting invertebrate community.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.